History

Early Years

Born May 1967 Norton, Zimbabwe, Portia Gwanzura grew up in the village of Mhondoro where she lived a traditional rural Shona lifestyle. During her early years she was very much exposed to and embraced the music, rhythms and traditional dances of the Shona people that went onto strongly influence and feature in her musical career most notably throughout the 1990’s when her Hohodza became widely regarded as one of Zimbabwe’s most highly recognised and respected bands of their time.

As one of Zimbabwe’s first ever notable female band leaders, Portia’s early years in music were humble forming and creating the Hohodza band in 1992. Her vision at the time was to simply create gainful employment to her band members who were all school leavers at the time but also to celebrate and perform African dance, music and culture to the widest possible audience.

With a strong emphasis on traditional African music and dance she recruited no less than 15 band members as dancers, musicians and performers with her early performances comprising only the traditional instruments of Mbira, Marimba and drums to accompany her soon to be recognised dancing and singing talents of her band. As the band developed, they were eager to go to live shows and soon began making their name in their home town performing at local venues, hotels and festivals even prior to releasing their first album.

Her early success saw the band invited to play at the prestigious 5 star Sheraton Hotel in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare to a packed out crowd of residents and visiting guests which was most well received. Her soon to follow first album produced and recorded by the band Mudzimu Hautengwi came out in 1995. A distribution agreement through Grammar Records saw the album in the shelves of record stores throughout Zimbabwe and played on radio as the band’s music was quickly embraced by prominent Zimbabwean radio DJ’s such as Kudzi Marudza, Eric Knight, Peter Johns, Tich Mataz, Witness Matema, Joe Hussein, Admire Taderera amongst others all keen to promote her music.

1990s

As the band became more prolific throughout the 1990’s they went on to release no less than 10 studio albums whilst touring and playing at major venues and stadiums throughout Zimbabwe alongside the likes of Zimbabwean legends Oliver Mtukudzi and Thomas Mapfumo. During this time the band had developed their sound to include electric guitars, keyboards and drums which although seemed a little controversial with the traditional Zimbabwean music fan base, it soon brought them success and recognition with new audiences with tracks such as Asipo Haapo, Chinyakare Makaisepi and Gwengwendere gaining momentum as live show favourites.

As the Zimbabwean media continued to cover and praise the band during the 90’s they were honoured by Zimbabwe’s leading national Newspaper the Herald after being voted 3rd best band in Zimbabwe in 1995 by their readers.

2002

In 2002 the band relocated to the UK and soon began to build their profile and recognition through live shows, festivals and workshops throughout the UK as they introduced their unique sound and performances to new audiences. They were soon discovered by radio 1 DJ John Peel who as a big fan claimed the band made “fantastic music” and were also invited by BBC Radio DJ Andy Kershaw to play live on his show in London.

2006

In 2006 Portia opened the Moonraker Pub in Leigh, Lancashire where her African themed bar and live music venue became a hugely popular meeting place not only for Zimbabweans throughout the UK but for her local community. It was then Portia decided to take a break with the music as the pub slowly took over.

2007

In 2007 Portia was chosen by Wigan Borough Council as one of the top 10 most recognised people in the borough as a whole, for her contribution to the local community.

2011

In 2011 Portia did some acting training with Footlights theatre in Manchester which is run by UK celebrity actresses Jo Fisher and Natalie Grady among others. The same year Portia attended classes at Mel @ Acting Drama School run by UK celebrities Will Travis and Melanie Ash who both commented on her acting and presenting skills which she nurtured from an early age.

2015

In 2015 Portia was presented with the Station Honour Award from ZimOnline Radio.

2020

Fast forward to 2020 and Portia Gwanzura and Hohodza band are back in the studio and have released a number of new singles with more to come! Watch this space where we hope you will join us in their next chapter.